The Cinque Terre

Back in the beginning of June, we rented a villa with some friends in the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre is a stretch of coastline along the Mediterranean in the Northern part of Italy. It is also called the Italian Riviera and it is beautiful. Most of the coastline is mountains with only small sections beach. Although the beaches are great and the water is teal blue, the biggest draw to this area are the 5 towns the make up the Cinque Terre: Monterosso, Vernazza, Riomaggiore, Corniglia and Manarola.

The villa we rented was up on the hillside of the town Levanto. It had an amazing view and more importantly, we didn't have be concerned about the kids making too much noise. Colin loved it because he could explore the yard and look for bugs and lizards (or as he calls them, mini beasts). One night we even had lizards in the house! We spend a day as a group exploring a couple of towns. We then traded off the kids and were able to hike from the first town to the last on a path that ran through the mountains. The views were amazing and what started as an easy trail turned tough at times. The entire trail is a little over 7 miles in length.


View from the trail

We spent 2 days on the beach in Monterosso. There were some free beaches, but we found it was worth the money to rent a spot with an umbrella and 2 chairs. Our spot was along side a rock jetty where we found lots of snails, crabs and sea urchins. This is where Craig got a little too close to a sea urchin and ended up with several urchin spines in his toe. This is also where I saw a Asian tourist smash open a sea urchin and eat it with a fork. I think I was more shocked that she was carrying a metal fork with her than the fact that she was picking them out of the sea and eating them.

A couple of weeks earlier, Colin lost his first tooth. It happened quick; it was wobbly one day and came out the next. I don't think knew what to expect and played with it a bit too much. When it came out, it bleed and it hurt him a little bit. Within days, the second one was loose and he let it hang in there. Finally, he lost his second tooth while we were on the beach. So cute!

LOVE this picture!

Zomer Vakantie

Summer vacation has started off with a bang. We have been trying to keep the kids busy and have so far had them at the zoo, the Natural History Museum and the carnival.

On Saturday, we celebrated the Fourth of July by hosting a BBQ complete with hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad. We had a house full of people that included the Dutch, British, Irish and Germans. The American were completely out numbered!

On Friday, we will be driving to the UK for a long weekend in Bath. We will drive to France where we pick up a ferry to take us (and the car) across the channel. I am a little nervous about driving in the UK, I am sure we will have plenty of stories when we get back.


Natural History Museum



At the Carnival



Goin' Fishin'



With the Penguins



Sketching using real life models

Let the Summer Begin!

The kids wrapped up their school year on Friday. I love seeing the comparison between the first day and the last day. I just wish I could get them to look like they actually enjoy going to school (which they do).
It is hard to believe that Colin will be in Grade 1 next year. I can't wait to see him in his uniform!


First Day of School September 2010



Last Day of School June 2011



Colin also finished his swimming lesson for the past semester. They city has criteria on which they test and award children for their swimming achievements. Colin passed his 25 meter swim this session and received a certificate and a patch. He can swim further, but refused to jump into the pool, which is part of the next round. We will have to work on it over the summer.

 

It ends up being a busy time with a lot going on. It was Beer Passion weekend here in Antwerp, which is always a good time. The parent and child group we are a part of also hosted a summer picnic in the park.
 

I also just finished up the second session of my Dutch lessons. My exam was Thursday and I will find out my score today. I need to pass it in order to move onto the next level, which starts in September.

I will hopefully follow up shortly with a post about our trip to Italy in the beginning of the month.





Our Future Rock Star.

I have had this video of Chloe for a little while now and I thought I would post it. I can't get enough of it.

Coming Home!

The weather here has been amazing and we tried to make the most of it. We have been to the park just about everyday. Wednesday we celebrated Lillianne's birthday (in the park) and on Saturday, we celebrated Olive's birthday (in the park). Yesterday was the Antwerp Parent and Child annual easter egg hunt (in the park).

We will be home tomorrow until the 23rd.

Chocolate in the nose

Party Time!

Since Colin and Chloe have many similiar friends, we decided to throw a joint party for their birthday. We held the party at Het Circus, an indoor playground just about 10 minutes outside of Antwerp. It was one of the only places that we could find that could accommodate all 28 kids, plus parents. Saturday ended up being a gorgeous day, about 75 degrees. In typical Belgian form, there was no air conditioning. It was hot for the adults and most of the kids were dripping with sweat. I think our party alone went through close to 100 drinks. Our fun celebration continued back at home where we had some people over for a BBQ and to hang out on the terrace. It was a fun day with TONS of presents. As it turns out, Craig received the best present from our friends Rene and Sylvie. In the unsuspecting Groovy Girls bag were 6 of probably the most difficult beer to get in the world, Westvleteren #12.

Two Years

It is almost hard to believe that it was two years ago, on April 2nd, that we left the US for what we thought was 6 months. We never thought that our stay would have lasted this long and certainly never thought that we would have made such good friends as we have.
We will be spending April 2nd celebrating the kids birthdays with all of their friends at an indoor playground, Het Circus. At this point, it looks like there will be 30 kids!